


A new life (we brought into the world)

by forestfloor



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21550633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forestfloor/pseuds/forestfloor
Summary: Charity helps Vanessa deliver a calf.
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 5
Kudos: 113





	A new life (we brought into the world)

The ringing of Vanessa's phone rouses Charity out of her slumber. It didn't seem to wake Vanessa up, because she could hear her gentle snoring, mixed with the sounds of the film they had put on. She turns the sound off and gently pokes Vanessa in her side, only evoking a slightly louder snore. Someone could break into the house without her waking up, she thinks, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Vanessa's neck and a second one on her jaw. "Wake up Ness," she whispers into her ear, smelling the rosy scent of her shampoo.   
  
Vanessa groans, searching for Charity's hands, scratching her knuckles lightly when she finds them. "If this is what I think it is" - she starts, standing up without finishing her thought. She rakes through her purse, turning the whole thing upside down when she can't find her phone fast enough. "Hello, this is Vanessa Woodfield," she answers, pressing her lips into a thin line and squeezing her eyes shut. Charity chuckles, this was clearly who Vanessa though it'd be.   
  
Vanessa sits down between Charity's legs again after she's hung up the phone, dropping her head to Charity's chest and letting out a heavy sigh. "Was it Tracy?" Charity asks, two rowdy toddlers coming to mind, bringing out a lazy smile. She feels Vanessa shaking her head, soft strands of hair tickling her face. "I wish, it's actually Mr. Matthews asking if I could take a look at one of his cows."  
  
Charity's smile drops and she tightens her arms around Vanessa in a reflex, refusing to let go. "It's daft o'clock babe, can't he do it himself?"   
  
"You knew I was on call," Vanessa answers calmly, "it's not like this is the first time."   
  
It definitely wasn't the first time. Interrupted cavorting and cold empty sheets spring to mind. A sulky pout takes over her face as Vanessa turns around. Big apologetic eyes stare back at her, making her feel a bit lousy for taking Vanessa on a guilt-trip.   
  
Vanessa brushes a stray curl behind her ear, dragging her finger over Charity's cheek. It stops on her chin, lifting it so that they are looking at each other again. "I'm sorry Charity."   
  
Vanessa's gentle tone and even softer smile make her feel stroppy again, unwilling to be left alone now they finally have the house all to themselves. "I had all kinds of plans for tonight, none involving stroppy cows." She wiggles her eyebrows and conjures up a cheeky smirk. "We are finally alone," she whispers, moving her hands lower on Vanessa's back.   
  
She hums in delight. "There is one stroppy cow here already," she says softly, chuckling when Charity tries to push her away.   
  
"Fine, you can leave then. Goodbye Vanessa."   
  
When Vanessa tries to stand up she tightens her arms around her. "I changed my mind," she says in a whiny voice. "You can't go, I'll get cold." She shivers to make a point, burying her nose in Vanessa's hair. "You are my nice warm blanket babe, I'll freeze my bits of if you leave."  
  
"That all I'm good for?" Vanessa says, feigning offence. She pouts her lips, moving in for a kiss and Charity leans in immediately. When she closes her eyes Vanessa escapes her loosened grip, standing up with a smug grin on her face and her arms wide. "Tadaa," she says, taking an over-exaggerated bow. She picks up the blanket hanging over the arm of the sofa and drapes it carefully over Charity. "This'll keep you warm while I'm away."  
  
This is not how she wanted the night to go. She'd wanted to make as much use of a quiet house as she could, now they are finally back together. "Fine I'll come with ya," she groans, as if generously agreeing to a plea Vanessa hadn't made. Standing up, she drops the blanket on the sofa and looks at Vanessa. "But I'm staying _in_ the car.   
  


* * *

  
The muddy unpaved road they had trundled down, filled with puddles and protruding rocks, had turned into a grassy driveway. Vanessa keeps the engine running, hot air blasting out of the heater as she turns to look out of the side window of her blue Beetle. It's dark outside. Mr. Matthews hadn't turned on any lights and the lampposts here had been taken down to reduce costs. The only faint light coming from a thin crescent moon, barely visible in the dark cloudy sky.   
  
It allowed Charity to see Vanessa turn again to look at her. "I won't be long." She leans in to press a quick kiss to Charity's lips. "Hopefully."   
  
Cold air sends a shiver down her spine as Vanessa opens the door. Her eyes follow her to the boot of the car, where she graps her medical bag and puts her green overalls on. They are ridiculous really, but Vanessa somehow makes them look quite sexy. As she disappears out of sight, regret hits Charity fast. She should have brought a book with her, or her phone, although there probably isn't much of a signal out here anyway.   
  
She tries to entertain herself by counting the sheep in a nearby field, but the lack of light makes it impossible. If you can only count seven sheep before the shadowy darkness swallows all traces of life, dozing off isn't really an option. When she starts rummaging through the glovebox and only finds insurance papers, hand sanitizer and a stale sandwich, she decides it's been enough and goes to find Vanessa.  
  
"What's taking so long babe?" She closes the barn door and winces when the wind loudly slams it shut.   
  
Vanessa takes her long plastic gloves off to look at her watch. She smiles. "It's barely been five minutes."   
  
"As if," Charity says affronted, walking over to turn Vanessa's watch around, huffing when she sees Vanessa was right.   
  
Charity's eye is drawn to the cow Vanessa was working on, standing in a seperate pen, tied to a beam and looking very uncomfortable. Artificial lights thwarted the romantic picture perfect image of a cozy countryside farm, as the cow standing next to her lifted his tail and Charity shrieked, taking a view steps to hide behind Vanessa. "This is a nightmare." Her nose crinkles in disgust, the smell of cow muck invading her nostrils. She puts her head on Vanessa's shoulder, turning so her nose nuzzles Vanessa's hair, the smell of roses fighting of the stench all around her for a few seconds.   
  
"Right, I need to get on with it," Vanessa says, carefully stepping away from Charity and putting her gloves back on.   
  
When Charity looks around she realises that Vanessa is alone. "You alone babe? Mr. Matthews legged it or summat?"  
  
"He has a wedding in Leeds, his sister. He tied the cow up for me though, said it would probably be nothing. Turns out Rosie is giving birth and the calf is breech."   
  
Charity turns her head back to the cow, eyes getting big when she sees a hoof sticking out. Vanessa is already tying a rope to the visible leg, looking around for the solution to a problem Charity doesn't know. She smiles when her eyes land on Charity. "You need to help me," she says, urgency colouring her voice.  
  
"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere near that thing." She takes a step back and points at the cow. "There's cow muck everywhere, and blood." She takes another step back. "And there's a leg sticking out." Her raised voice startles some of the other cows, who start mooing in return. "Don't you start, I don't see you helping out either." She glares at the cows, who seem very unimpressed and turn away from her after a few seconds.  
  
"Charity we don't have much time. The calf will drown if we don't pull it out fast enough." Vanessa looks back over her shoulder quickly, desperation in her eyes. "Please."  
  
Charity sighs. "I'm reallly not an outdoor kind of person. And I really don't want to."   
  
Vanessa is smiling already, hearing the resignation in Charity's voice. "There are overalls in the boot if you want them."   
  
The wind blows her hair out of her face when she opens the barn doors. "Like I'm gonna ruin my nice clothes with cow muck," she mutters mostly to herself, when she goes to fetch the overalls.   
  
There are _two_ legs sticking out when she returns, both have ropes around them with handles that are slightly swaying when Vanessa turns around. "You look lovely," she says, raking her eyes over Charity's body, before turning back and grabbing the handles.   
  
Charity walks over, eyebrows raised in offence. "If that is sarcasm I just heard you are sleeping on the sofa tonight."   
  
"I wouldn't dare." Vanessa smiles and hands over one of the handles. "And you'd look beautiful in a garbage bag."   
  
Charity's stomach floods with warmth, annoyance fading away after Vanessa's compliment, offered so casually. As if it isn't miles apart from any boyfriend or husband she's ever had, who rarely complimented her, let alone when she was in a strop.   
  
"I'll count to three and then we pull yeah?" She steps back, signalling for Charity to do so as well.   
  
They pull for what feels like minutes, sweat dripping down Charity's forehead as she blows the hair out of her face. Vanessa sticks her hand inside the cow again, doing who knows what. Charity looks on with a mixture of admiration and disgust.   
  
"I could never stick my hand up a cow's arse." Her nose wrinkles in distaste, the thought alone making her feel queasy.   
  
"It's not the arse Charity." Vanessa is rolling her eyes, putting her hand even farther inside. "I'm just trying to feel if the pelvis is in the right position."   
  
The cow is mooing now, clearly not enjoying this experience. Someone sticking their hand inside you when you are giving birth can't be a pleasant feeling. Charity can sympathize. Well, not with the sticking a hand inside part, but childbirth hadn't felt like a 'natural high' for her either. She'd had her children in prison or alone when she was just a child herself.   
  
If only Vanessa had been there, to hold her hand and whisper encouragements. It would've been completely different. So much better. She rolls her eyes. Look at her, comparing herself to a cow. Vanessa would have a right laugh if she knew, before telling her she's shouldn't compare herself to a cow, because she's amazing and wonderful. She smiles. Or she'd tell her she is the daftest cow she knows. Either way it would make her laugh and feel better, because that's what Vanessa does, always.  
  
"You okay?" Vanessa asks, concern in her voice.   
  
She shakes her head, laughing softly, before she starts nodding fiercely. "I mean yes I am." She looks down, her black shiny boots providing a handy distraction method. "I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat babe, but if any cow muck gets on my boots you'll have to buy new ones." She lift her right foot for effect, pointing at the boots she bought just weeks ago.  
  
Vanessa laughs, shaking her head in amusement. "Why you decided to wear your good shoes to a calving I'll never understand, but alright. I mean were you expecting squeaky clean floors and red carpets for you to walk on." She's sticking her tongue out now, clearly enjoying the banter. Her hair swishes around her face as it turns serious. "Ready to pull again?"  
  
Charity's hands start to ache, used to physical labor, but very much a different kind. "You are doing great," she hears Vanessa say beside her, groaning with the effort herself.   
  
"Ness," she warns, leaning farther backwards to use gravity to do the job for her. "Are you talking to me or the cow?"  
  
Vanessa does the same, squeezing her eyes shut as if that will give her more power to pull. "Both."  
  
Before Charity has time to respond they fall in the straw, cow muck sticking to her back. The calf is laying in front of her, visibly struggling to breath, its chest shuddering with the effort. Vanessa is already up again, removing the slimy membranes from its mouth and nose, encouraging it to breath on its own.   
  
"Charity get a bucket of cold water," she instructs. "There is a tap outside, just around the corner. There should be a bucket as well."   
  
Vanessa in a crisis is something else entirely. It had surprised Charity initially that a bossy Vanessa was so attractive to her, so irresistible. Now she just embraces it, going outside to follow her orders, where the night air cools her heated body. Whether that was because of the physical activity or Vanessa's bossy charms she didn't want to think too much about, probably a bit of both.   
  
Vanessa dumps the bucket of water on the calf's head after she returns. Its breathing comes easier then and it even lifts its head up. "It's a bull-calf," Vanessa says, moving to stand next to Charity.   
  
He tries to stand up, legs shaking with the effort it takes. Like a baby giraffe, Charity thinks, looking at the wobbling calf. Or a kid trying to ride his bike without stabilisers for the first time.  
  
"He's beautiful, isn't he?" Vanessa looks at her with relieved eyes. "I thought we might lose him today, but he was a right trooper."  
  
He _is_ cute really, in a disgusting blood covered newborn kind of way. Charity looks at Vanessa. Her hair all knots and tangles; her overalls covered in cow muck and slime an bits of straw; a streak of blood on her cheek just below her cheekbone.   
  
She'd done such an amazing job today. Charity has never seen her in action like this, out in the field in a crisis situation. Sure, she's been to the surgery, has seen Augustus conked out on the operation table, has seen a legion of cats and dogs there as well, recovering from surgery or vying for Vanessa's attention. But never like this, pulling a calf, all business, tireless, dirty ... hot.   
  
She closes her eyes for a second thanking whatever God may or may not be listening on her bare knees that this woman is hers. That she has agreed to spend their lives together, always.   
  
"That was really intense," she says, looking at Vanessa again. "And you do that everyday. You are amazing Ness."   
  
Vanessa blushes, casting her eyes down. She has never been good at taking a compliment, Charity thinks, as she sees the cogs in Vanessa's head turning, trying to find a way out.   
  
" _You_ were amazing. Thank you for helping me, it really made all the difference."  
  
Vanessa leans in to kiss her, but Charity quickly holds her arms out. "Babe no offense, but you are covered in all sorts of things that I don't care to touch. So lets just wait until we are back home, all cleaned up."   
  
A grin spreads on Vanessa's face as she takes of her plastic gloves. "Have you looked down yet?"   
  
She does look down then, taking a step back when she sees the massacre, as if that will create distance between her and her repulsive overalls. She's covered in cow muck and slimy membranes with chunks of bloody afterbirth and pieces of straw throughout. It's like a murder scene, she thinks, not that she's ever seen one, and a really weird one at that. Her boots have made a miraculous escape, bar some small streaks of blood, they seem to have remained relatively unscathed.   
  
Vanessa is still looking at her as she moves in, softly kissing her lips, her hands staying as far away as possible from the blood on her face.   
  
She hums softly when Vanessa steps away, risking it all by brushing a tangled strand of hair out of her face before she is out of reach. She holds her hands up in victory, wiggling her fingers triumphantly. A shriek escapes her lips when she sees her bloody fingertips and her mucky palms. "I'm gonna need a bucket of water," she says, taking a beat, almost gagging in disgust. "Or maybe two."  
  
Vanessa wiggles her clean hands in Charity's face. "Gloves," she whispers, when Charity swats them away with a fake scowl on her face. "Just wash your hands under the tap outside and take your overalls off." She tilts her head backwards, breathing out slowly. "I can't wait to take a nice hot shower."  
  
Charity's eyes start to twinkle. "I can join you babe, when you've cleaned up a bit." She smirks, eyebrows raising suggestively. "I can help you scrub your back, since I was such a great helper just now. We could make good use out of our empty house after all."   
  
She opens the barn doors, fresh air hitting her face as Vanessa graps her blood-covered hand and squeezes.   
  
"Right, let's go home."


End file.
